Within Me Without Me: A Book of Dark Poetry

Dark poetry and prose written at the intersection of Blackness, Queerness, and Neurodivergence, where magic is mistaken for madness, organic hosts willingly bind themselves with artificial intelligence, and instruments designed for music are enchanted for revenge. Ghost ships embark on twisted, versical affairs with krakens. Ghostly husbands believe "til death do us part" must be mutual. Keenly aware that we are worlds within ourselves as well as fractal instances of the world as a whole, these words ~ written predominantly during the first two years of the global pandemic ~ unite revolution, multiplicity.and a soul-searing sense of melancholia.Within me / Without me is a revelatory work, an intimate yet universal discourse on the concepts of self and society. Saulson's creation will possess you: it will inhabit your skin, surge through your veins, and invade your synapses, each story and poem foreshadowing the 'pendulum switch' of acceptance and celebration that our new world demands. With echoes of Octavia Butler, Within me/ Without me sings with verve and vibrancy. A ground-breaking collection." -Lee Murray, double Bram Stoker Award®-winner and author of Grotesque: Monster Stories.

"Within me/Without me is a collection of refreshing and diverse storylines in poetry and prose. They speak of how to be human in a horrific world, where complicated emotions from divergent cultures and society norms are like oil and water. Saulson's seduction pulls you through a vice-grip of social structures in marginalized conflict, slipping through scarred, but strong, unique, and imperfectly loveable. It satisfies the deep, dark thirst for the personal nature of poems and storytelling." -Rain Graves, two-time Bram Stoker Award®-winning poet and author of Barfodder

"Saulson's empowering dark speculative collection reveals self-made myth & earth magic through the sweet/bitter memories of life and love." -Linda D. Addison, award-winning author, HWA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and SFPA Grand Master.